Telescopic rotor construction for a rotary regenerator



y 1965 R. STOCKMAN 3,192,999

TELESCOPIC ROTOR CONSTRUCTION FOR A ROTARY REGENERATOR Filed March 28,1965 H A a f0- \{6 INVENTOR.

@ara foe/627a United States Patent 3,192,999 TELESCOPIC ROTORCONSTRUCTION FOR A ROTARY REGENERATOR Richard Stockman, Friendship,N.Y., assignor to Combustion Engineering, Inc., New York, N.Y.', acorporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 268,625

6 Claims. (Cl. 16'5--9) The present invention relates to rotaryregenerative heat exchange apparatus and particularly to an improvedarrangement for minimizing the thermo-elastic deformation of thestructural parts of such apparatus as they are subjected to a wide rangeof temperature.

Rotary regenerative heat exchange apparatus of the conventional typeincludes a rotor carrying heat absorbent material in the form ofmetallic plates that arefirst positioned in a hot gas stream to absorbheat therefrom and then moved into a cool air stream to transfer theabsorbed heat thereto. The rotor is surrounded by a housing having endplates formed with openings that direct the flow of air and gas throughthe rotor, and to preclude the flow of air or gas through the clearancespace between the rotor and the housing, the end edgesof the rotor arecustomarily provided with sealing means that conform to variations inthe clearance space. The clearance spaces are required to permit freedomof movement so the rotor may be rotated about its axis. However, becauseof the extreme temperature differential that may exist between axiallyremote ends or diametrically opposite sides of the rotor, the rotor iscontinuously subjected to extreme thermal deformation that modifies thepresumed clearance space and alters the preferred sealing relationship.

The deformation of the rotor normally includes an action termed dishingwhich is .due to the essentially linear temperature gradient that isimposed on the rotor between its axially spaced ends. In this form ofdeformation the rotor assumes the shape of a frustum of a cone with theend facing the inlet for the hot gas being larger in diameter and convexwhile the opposite end is smaller and concave. Since one end of therotor is customarily mounted on a support bearing while the other ismounted on a guide bearing, the rotor tends to move away from thesupport bearing and toward the guide hearing so as to increase theleakage problem at one end and materially decrease it at the otherend ofthe rotor.

Instead of attempting to provide a sealing means which would effectivelycompensate for such a clearance variation, the present inventionprovides a rotor arrangement that substantially eliminates deformationdue to thermal variation, and it moveover contemplates utilizing adegree of normal rotor expansion to provide an improved sealingrelationship between the rotary and fixed parts of the apparatus.

Other features and advantages of the present invention and the manner inwhich it may be carried into practice will become more apparent uponconsideration of the following description and drawing thereof whichinvolves the principles of the invention. Reference is accordingly madeto the following drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional elevation of a rotary regenerative heatexchanger constructed according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view showing the details of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a view of the apparatus as seen from line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated inFIGURE 1 a cross section of the heat exchanger having cylindrical rotorincluding an inner rotor shell 10 and an outer rotor shell 12 joinedtogether by radial partitions 14 to provide a series of sector shapedcompartments for the heat absorbent material 16. The

bearing 32 at the lower end of the rotor.

3,192,999 Patented July 6,1965

ice

an outlet duct 24 where it is directed to any suitable point 7 of usage.

The rotor is mounted on a central rotor post having ,trunnions 28 atopposite ends thereof, each of which is fixedly supported by a supportbearing 32 that is mounted on independent support structure.

A housing 34 enclosing the rotor is provided with end plates 36 that areapertured to permit the flow of air and gas therethrough.

In accordance with the invention the rotor is divided axially intoindependent upper and lower parts which when disposed in alignmenttogether comprise a composite rotor having overall dimensions thatsatisfy the design conditions of the heat exchanger. 7 Each rotor, partthereof is supported by a supportbearing 32 at the end of the rotorremote therefrom in order that thermal expansion of the rotor and itssupporting structure will move each part axially into a closer sealingrelationship with its adjacent end plate. g

The inner and outer rotor shells 10'and 12 together with radialpartitions 14 would usually be divided axially so as to provide tworotor bodies of similar dimensions, although the relative height of eachaxial section may be varied somewhat in accordance with variable designcriteria to provide an optimum relationship.

The rotor post is comprised of an independent outer section 27 carriedby the support bearing 32 at the upper end of the rotor and an innersection 29 carried by the support The outer. section 27 of the rotorpost is slotted at a plurality of locations 30 to permit supportstructure 33 carried by inner telescopicrotor section 29 to extendtherethrough in order that it may be secured to the upper section of theinner rotor shell 10. The outer telescopic section 27 is secureddirectly to the lower section of the inner rotor shell 10 by the lateralsupports 34.

In accordance with this arrangement the lower section of the rotor iscarried by the support bearing 32 positioned at the upper end of therotor, while the upper section of the rotor is carried by the supporthearing at the lower end of the rotor. When the rotor is subjected tonormal operating conditions and its temperature is increasedaccordingly, each portion of the rotor expands away from its supportbearing and tends to close the clearance space between the rotor and itsadjacent end plate. Any differential in the expansion between upper andlower portions of the rotor may open a clearance space 38 which isreadily covered by a sealing means 42 secured to the upper rotorstructure. Since the space 38 varies only slightly in extent due to adifferential in thermal expansion between axially aligned parts of therotor, the sealing means 42 must compensate for a minimum axial movementbetween adjacent parts of the rotor and leakage may be held to aminimum.

Although this invention has been described with reference to theembodiment illustrated in the drawing, it is evident that variouschanges may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventionand it is intended that all matter contained in the above description orshown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. Rotary regenerative heat exchange apparatus having a rotor carrying amass of heat absorbent material alter-.

nately between a heating fluid and a fluid to be heated comprising arotor shell, a central rotor post having a plurality of telescopicparts, support trunnions at opposite ends of the rotor post secured toindependent parts of the telescopic rotor post, partition membersextending radially from the rotor post to the rotor shell to form aseries of sectoral compartments for the heat absorbent material, meansfor rotating the rotor about its axis, and support bearings fixedlymounted at each end of the rotor to rotatably support the spacedtrunnions with a fixed spacing thereoetween.

2. Rotary regenerative heat exchange apparatus having a rotor carrying amass of heat absorbent material, means for rotating the rotoralternately between a heating fluid and a fluid to be heated, saidapparatus comprising a central rotor post having a plurality oftelescopic sections, a rotor shell including a pair of axially adjacentindependent sections concentric with the central rotor post, radialpartitions extending from the rotor post to the rotor shell to form aseries of sector-shaped compartments for the heat absorbent material,said radial partitions each comprising a pair of axially aligned platemembers connected at their outboard ends to axially adjacent sections ofthe rotor shell While the inboard ends thereof are connected to thetelescopic sections of the rotor post.

3. Rotary regenerative heat exchange apparatus as defined in claim 2wherein inboard ends of said axially aligned plate members are connectedto independent sections of the telescopic rotor post.

4. Rotary regenerative heat exchange apparatus as defined in claim 3,wherein axially aligned plate members which comprise the radialpartitions are each connected to a section of the telescopic rotor postcarried by a support bearing mounted at the distal end of the rotor.

5. Rotary regenerative heat exchange apparatus having a rotor carrying amass of heat absorbent material alternately between a heating fluid anda fluid to be heated, said apparatus comprising a central rotor postwith a plurality of telescopic sections, inner and outer rotor shellsseparated axially into upper and lower sections concentric with thecentral rotor post, partition means separated axially into upper andlower sections extending between corresponding sections of the rotorshell to provide a series of sectoral compartments for the heatabsorbent material, support trunnions at opposite ends of the rotorsecured to independent telescopic sections of the rotor post, supportbearings fixedly mounted at each end of the rotor to rotatably supportthe trunnions with a fixed spacing therebetween, means rotating therotor about its axis, and means connecting each section of the innerrotor shell to a section of the telescopic rotor post which is carriedby the support trunnion at the distal end of the rotor.

6. Rotary regenerative heat exchange apparatus having a rotor carrying amass of heat absorbent material alternately between a heating fluid anda fluid to be heated, said apparatus comprising a central rotor postwith a plurality of telescopic sections, inner and outer rotor shellsdivided axially into upper and lower sections concentric with thecentral rotor post, partition means divided axially into upper and lowersections that extend radially between corresponding sections of therotor post and rotor shells arranged to provide a series of sectoralcompartments for the heat absorbent material, sealing means disposedbetween upper and lower sections of the rotor adapted to preclude fluidflow therebetween, support trunnions at opposite ends of the rotorsecured to independent sections of the telescopic rotor post, supportbearings fixedly mounted at each end of the rotor to rotatably supportthe trunnions with a fixed spacing therebetween, means for rotating therotor about its axis and means connecting axially independent sectionsof the rotor to the section of the telescopic rotor post which iscarried by the support trunnion at the distal end of the rotor.

References Qited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,936,160 5/60Nilsson et al --8 3,024,005 3/62 Dore et al 1659 3,088,519 5/63 Lyle165--10 CHARLES- SUKALO, Primary Examiner.

MEYER PERLIN, Examiner.

1. ROTARY REGENERATIVE HEAT EXCHANGE APPARATUS HAVING A ROTOR CARRYING AMASS OF HEAT ABSORBENT MATERIAL ALTERNATELY BETWEEN A HEATING FLUID ANDA FLUID TO BE HEATED COMPRISING A ROTOR SHELL, A CENTRAL ROTOR POSTHAVING A PLURALITY OF TELESCOPIC PARTS, SUPPORT TRUNNIONS AT OPPOSITEENDS OF THE ROTOR POST SECURED TO INDEPENDENT PARTS OF THE TELESCOPICROTOR POST, PARTITION MEMBERS EXTENDING RADIALLY FROM THE ROTOR POST TOTHE ROTOR SHEEL TO FORM A SERIES OF SECTOR COMPARTMENTS FOR THE HEATABSORBENT MATERIAL, MEANS FOR ROTATING THE ROTOR ABOUT ITS AXIS, ANDSUPPORT BEARINGS FIXEDLY MOUNTED AT EACH END OF THE ROTOR TO ROTATABLYSUPPORT THE SPACED TRUNNIONS WITH A FIXED SPACING THEREBETWEEN.